So many people dream of living a simpler and less cluttered life. We love instagram images of minimalist houses and Pinterest pins of decluttering and organising methods. But the action required is often overlooked in favour of other things. What stops people from decluttering and creating an environment they want to live in?

You start out full of enthusiasm, ready to tackle that drawer, wardrobe or cabinet, and after the first 15 minutes you find yourself staring at the same thing over and over, unable to make a decision about it.

Long-forgotten feelings surface. You think about the memories attached to it and although you really thought you didn’t need it any more, suddenly it seems important. It doesn’t belong in the room you’re in, but you aren’t sure where else to put it.

A nagging feeling eats away at you. You start to get bored with all this sorting out. It’s taking too long. Decluttering has stopped being fun and is now hard work.

Are you living in a house that is so cluttered and messy you think you’re beyond help? Maybe your clutter problem has gotten so bad it’s affecting your job, or your relationships with others? If nothing else is working, here’s what to do if you have so much stuff you can’t even see your floors.

If you’ve gotten yourself into a situation like this, you need to know that the origin of the problem is not physical.

This level of extreme clutter (or hoarding) tends to occur following traumatic life events like divorce and death, but it can also be a cumulative representation of a life that you just aren’t happy with.

Paring back your possessions and living with less is most often a slow process. It takes mental adjustment along with the investment of time and energy to let go of things, and a way of life, that you have taken for granted for many years.

One of the things that can help you as you make this adjustment is the principle of keeping like with like. Keeping like with like was instrumental in helping me to finally organise my endless mess. It also made it easier to declutter because I could see just how much of each thing I had.